"The Barnahus Project: promoting multidisciplinary and inter-agency justice and response to child victims and witnesses of violence"

"The Barnahus Project: promoting multidisciplinary and inter-agency justice and response to child victims and witnesses of violence"

The project promoter is the Ministry of Social Security and Labour. Project partners: the National Courts Administration, the State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the Barnahus Network.

The aim of the project is to develop and implement a Barnahus (Children's House) model adapted to the legal, procedural and socio-economic context of Lithuania, including progress towards high quality services implemented according to the Barnahus quality standards, to raise awareness and involvement of the judiciary and other relevant sectors such as the health sector.

The main issue that we aim to address with this project is the discussion of the challenges of applying the Barnahus model in Lithuania and the quality enhancement of the Barnahus model, with a view to a more active and targeted application of the model in the pre-trial process.

The Project activities:

• Evaluation of the model and development of recommendations;
• Study visit to the Barnahus Children's House in Ljubljana (Slovenia);
• Participation in round table discussions;
• Preparation of procedures.

On 10-11 December 2024, a Lithuanian delegation consisting of the National Courts Administration, the Ministry of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania, the State Service for Protection of Child Rights and Adoption, Vilnius District Court and other institutions visited the Children's Home (Barnahus) in the Republic of Slovenia, and got acquainted with the Barnahus in Ljubljana, as well as with the regulations governing the interviewing of children in the Republic of Slovenia.

A roundtable discussion took place in Vilnius on 27 February to discuss the Barnahus model and its application in other European countries. The discussion focused on the application of the model in Lithuania and what is needed for it to become an important tool for assistance in pre-trial and judicial proceedings.

A second roundtable discussion was held in Vilnius on 9 April 2025 this year to review the results of the project and plans for the future, as well as to discuss inter-institutional cooperation in the field of child protection, health, pre-trial investigation, etc.

The project implementation period from 1 September 2024 to 30 April 2025.

The project value is EUR 243 440.

Funding: Bilateral Cooperation Fund of the European Economic Area and Norway Grants.